Hi, there. My name is Emma; and in today's video, I'm going to teach you
some great conversation skills. Nowadays, one of the most popular things
to talk about are movies, or TV series, or streaming series. So, I'm going to
teach you how to talk about these things; some of the key vocabulary, and
I'll give you some examples of how we use these words. So, let's get started.
This is a common question nowadays: "So... what are you watching these
days?" What does this mean? When someone asks this question, it means they want
to know what movies or TV series you are watching. So, I'm going to give you a
formula on how to answer this question. We're going to look at it as one first,
and then we're going to break it apart. So, if someone asked me this question:
"What are you watching these days?" I might say something, like: "I'm watching
a series called: 'Kim's Convenience'. It's a comedy. It takes place in
Toronto. It's about a Korean family that owns a convenience store in Toronto, and
their adventures. I don't know who's in it. Most of the actors are not that
famous. I give it a nine out of ten." So, we're going to go through each step,
here. But this is, essentially, how I might answer this question. So, now,
let's look at each part.
Okay. So, when someone asks us what we are watching, after we say the name, we
can talk about the "genre". So, that's this word right here. "Genre" is a fancy
way to say: "type". We use the word: "genre" when we're talking about books,
movies, music; and again, it just means the type. So, we can say: "It's a
__________" and then we say the type of movie or series it is. So, let's look at
some examples. We could say: "It's a fantasy". "Game of Thrones" is an
example of a "fantasy". "Oh, I'm watching a fantasy." Maybe we're
watching a "sitcom". A "sitcom" stands for: "situational comedy". But nobody
says: "situational comedy"; instead, we say: "sitcom". "Friends" is a very
famous "sitcom"; so is "Seinfeld". So, we might say: "Oh, I'm watching a sitcom
right now." We might talk about a "sci-fi". "Sci-fi" means
"science-fiction". We say: "sci-fi" for short. "Star Trek" is an example of a
very famous "sci-fi".
Maybe we're watching a "reality TV show". So, a "reality TV show" is...
it's sort of hard to explain if it's real or not, but it's a show where they
follow people who are supposed to be real people. So, an example of a
"reality TV show" is: "Keeping Up With The Kardashians". If you've ever heard
of Kim Kardashian — she has a "reality TV show". So, maybe you're watching
"Keeping Up With The Kardashians", and you might tell people: "Oh, it's a
reality TV show." You might talk about a "drama". One example of a "drama" is a
show called: "The Affair". You might say... if you're talking about a show
that takes place in the past, you might say: "It's a period drama." An example
of a "period drama" is a show called: "Rome", which takes place in ancient
Rome. Maybe you're watching a "mystery". So, for example: "Miss Marple" is an
example of a "mystery". So, again, for any of these genres, when you're
describing a series, you can say: "It's a __________" and then you just say what
type or what genre it is right here. So, I want you to think of your favourite
show or a series you are watching. "What kind of show is it?" You can say this
out loud: "It's a __________" and then you choose the correct genre. All right.
So, now, let's look at the next thing we might say when we are talking about a
series or a movie.
Okay. So, the next thing you might talk about when someone asks you: "What are
you watching?" you might talk about the setting. "Setting" means when and where.
So, one way we talk about the "setting" is we use this verb: "take", and then we
use the word: "place". "Takes place" means when and where. So, we can say:
"It takes place in __________." And we can say either the time here, or the
date... Or, sorry, I mean the year, or the place. So, let's look at some
examples. "It takes place in ancient Rome." I could say that about the TV
series, "Rome". "It takes place in the 90s in New York." Maybe I'm talking
about "Seinfeld" or "Friends". But notice we have: "It takes place in
__________", so "in" is the preposition we're using. "The 90s" is a decade or a
time period, and "NY" stands for "New York". Here's another example: "It takes
place in Wisconsin" — which is a place — "in the 1970s". This is an example from
"That '70s Show". So, whatever you're watching, when you are describing the
time, as well as the place — you can use the words: "It takes place in". So, I
want you to think about a series you are watching right now. "When does it take
place?" So, you can say this out loud to help you remember it: "It takes place in
__________" and you can write the year, or say the year and say the place. All
right. So, now, let's look at the next thing we might talk about when we are
talking about a series.
Okay. So, the next thing we might talk about when we're talking about movies or
TV series, is we might talk about the story. "What is it about?" So, how will
we talk about the story? Well, to begin with, first I want to teach the word:
"plot". "Plot" is a fancy way of saying: "story". So, when you're talking about
the "plot of a movie", you're talking about the story of a movie. So, you can
just start off by saying: "Oh, the series or the movie is about __________"
and then just say a couple of sentences. One of the problems some people have is
they explain the whole series or the whole movie in a lot of detail. This is
not a good idea when someone asks: "What are you watching?" because usually
people are just trying to make conversation, and they don't want to
hear about the series for the next half an hour. They just want a couple of
sentences to tell them a little bit about it.
So, I'm going to give you some examples of this. So, imagine I'm telling my
friends about "Star Trek". And somebody, for some reason, has no idea what "Star
Trek" is. I might say: "Oh, well, 'Star Trek' is about a captain and his
spaceship, exploring space and different alien civilizations." So, notice, I
didn't talk about the whole series of "Star Trek" and I didn't talk about the
1950's version versus, you know, Voyager, and I didn't go into so much
detail. I just said just one sentence about it. Here's another example. So,
imagine I'm talking about the TV sitcom: "Friends". Okay? If somebody asked me:
"Oh, what's 'Friends' about?" Well, I might say: "Oh, you know, it's about six
friends in their twenties or early thirties, and their dating and work
experiences." I might say a couple more things, you know: "Oh, it's really
funny." But, in general, I'm going to keep my explanation short; unless a
person really wants to know more about the series, and then I might give more
details. Okay. So, now, we're going to find out what other information we might
give when we are talking about movies or TV series.
Okay. So, the next thing you might do when you are talking about movies or TV
series is you might talk about: "Who is in it? Is there anyone famous in it?" Or
maybe there's a famous director. So, how do you talk about actors or actresses
who are famous in a TV series? Well, you just say their name: "__________ is in
it". So, for example, the TV show "Friends" has Jennifer Aniston. We can
say: "The actress, Jennifer Aniston, is in it. Jennifer Aniston is in
'Friends'." If we're talking about "Seinfeld", we could say: "Jerry
Seinfeld is in Seinfeld." If we're talking about Game of Thrones, we might
say: "Emilia Clarke is in Game of Thrones." Another way to say this is you
can use the word: "star". So: "star" can be a verb, and we use it when we're
talking about actors and actresses. "Who is the main actor or actress?" If we're
talking about "Terminator", we could say: "Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in
it." And this just is a reminder: I wrote "famous people", here, to say you
can put different famous people in these sentences.
So, the next thing we might talk about when we talk about movies or TV series
is we might talk about how good it is. "Do we recommend it?" One way to say
this is we can give a movie or a TV series a score out of ten. If it's
amazing, you can say: "I give it a ten out of ten." And notice how we say this
number? We say: "Ten out of ten". And I've written it right there. "I give it
a nine out of ten." Maybe the series is not that great: "I give it a three out
of ten. Don't watch it", you might tell someone. So, here is an adjective we can
use to describe really, really good series — we can say: "It's bingeworthy."
When we "binge" on a TV show, or a series — it means we watch a lot of it
as fast as we can because it's so good. We call these series "bingeworthy". For
me, when I watched Game of Thrones, I watched a lot of Game of Thrones. It was
binge-worthy; I was excited to find out what would happen next. So, if I'm
talking about that show, I'd say: "It's bingeworthy." You can also recommend it.
This is a way to say: "I recommend it" — you can say: "You should check it out. I
recommend it. You should check it out." So, these are the ways we can talk about
movies and TV series; and how we can answer the question: "What are you
watching these days?"
So, thanks so much for watching. I recommend you come visit our website at
www.engvid.com. And, there, you can take a quiz to practice all this great
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www.teacheremma.com. There, you can find some more English resources. Thanks
again for watching; and until next time, take care.